Back Pain Exercises Pros and Cons

Back pain exercises are prescribed for a wide range of problematic spinal and muscular conditions.
Physical therapy
is a common conservative treatment modality for virtually all types
of back ache, regardless of the diagnosed source.

Although
back exercises
are great for your body, it is not exactly clear what they are supposed to do in terms of curing a
spinal abnormality,
such as a
herniated disc
or
spinal stenosis. However, this does not prevent doctors and physical therapists
from recommending multiple rounds of PT for most patients as part of a
conservative treatment plan.

What is the reason for this typical
prescription, if the exercise used has basically no hope of curing the
underlying causative mechanism? This is the question we tackle in this important topical discussion focused on the pros and cons of exercise therapy for back pain problems.

Theory of Back Pain Exercises

If you ask a doctor
about the goals of exercise therapy, you are likely to hear something like this:

Exercise will strengthen your core muscles, which will help to support the weak and painful area of your back. Exercise will also help increase your flexibility,
increase your effective range of motion and help to fight that tight
feeling which bothers you so much.

This is what I was told countless times by far too many doctors
to remember. It seems to be the standard answer given to most patients,
although it makes little or no medical sense. After all, I was looking
for a
cure,
not just some minor
back pain relief. I still want to know why exercise therapy is used for weeks or
months when the modalities utilized will never resolve the structural
issues that are diagnosed as the source of pain.

Back Pain Exercises Reality

First off, the
back muscles
are incredibly strong. They rarely need strengthening, since the very
act of keeping the body upright while standing is a terrific day-to-day
workout.

Second, "supporting" a painful area does not prevent symptoms and increasing the range of motion is mostly important during
rehabilitation,
when an
injury
has noticeably affected the normal function of the area.

Regardless of the seemingly illogical use of physical therapy, exercise often does produce good results in many patients and the only mystery is why it works. Let's look deeper at what exercise actually accomplishes and why so many patients do indeed cite positive short-term outcomes from using exercise therapy.

Back Pain Exercises for Ischemia

Oxygen deprivation back pain
is one of the most common sources of ongoing chronic symptomatic
conditions anywhere in the anatomy. Ischemia is known to cause nerve pain at very low levels of reduced oxygenation and can also cause muscular pain and back spasms at higher levels of oxygen deprivation. Unfortunately, this type of pain is
rarely correctly diagnosed and most patients never know that their
suffering is due to a completely harmless, although extremely agonizing
process.

Exercise increases local circulation of blood, removing cellular
waste products, and more importantly, bringing a fresh supply of oxygen
to the affected region. Exercise counters the
effects of ischemia, reducing symptoms and providing temporary
symptomatic treatment
for the patient. This explains why so many of us find that temporary,
but sweet, respite from pain during and immediately after exercise.
Alas, the pain always returns a few hours later.

Sound familiar?

Back Pain Exercise Analysis

Exercise is terrific, but it is not an effective cure for most types
of back pain. If you have experienced temporary relief from exercise
therapy, but always endure a
relapse
of symptoms a short time later, than you are certainly not alone. This
is one of the most universal profiles of back ache shared by patients
with many different diagnosed conditions. If this is your reality, then
you must consider the fact that your pain might have been
misdiagnosed.

There is no shame
in acknowledging the existence of this condition, since interaction
between the mind and body is normal, healthy and expected.
It is simply a shame that so many patients would rather suffer in pain
for years than explore an alternate and scientifically sound possible
explanation for why they simply can not beat their chronic
dorsopathy.

For detailed information on using exercise to combat your
particular form of back problem, be sure to talk to your doctor and
demand answers which make sense to you.

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